“Haaah, it’s cold.”

Aiden blew on his hands to warm them.

Then he hurried his steps towards the orphanage.

The Ellier Orphanage was able to receive proper support from the Grand Duke’s family since the day of the charity event where Karina exposed the corruption.

They moved from an old, shabby warehouse-like place to a decent building, and the person in charge also changed.

They said they were in the process of selecting a suitable person as the new director to manage the orphanage.

The monthly supply of necessities, including Mitchel’s medicine, continued to be provided separately.

The living standards of the orphanage children improved incomparably compared to before.

The director who abused the children and exploited the funds was imprisoned.

Not only those who participated, but all those involved in illegal activities paid for their crimes.

‘It’s all thanks to the Grand Duchess.’

Aiden smiled brightly.

Aiden wanted to do something that would be even a little helpful to the Grand Duchess.

So even while he was earning money by helping out here and there, he didn’t miss helping with the “flower shop” work.

Since helping to distribute newspapers in various alleys last time, he continued to help with miscellaneous tasks.

For instance, he would relay rumors circulating in the back alleys, or ask about what people are interested in these days, where new shops are opening, and pass on all sorts of information without missing anything.

Or he would go to work at places introduced by the flower shop and pass on information he picked up at those workplaces.

Then Aiden happened to overhear the story of Karina getting caught up in a hostage situation on the street.

Surprised, Aiden immediately ran to the flower shop to confirm if the story was true.

“Is it true?!”

Aiden shouted as soon as he entered the room, without any explanation.

He was breathing heavily, having run at full speed.

“I told you not to barge in like this.”

Heistine scolded Aiden.

“Is that important right now?”

“Yes, it is.”

Ignoring the panting Aiden, Heistine said what he wanted to say.

“That’s not the issue!”

Aiden exclaimed angrily.

“Then what’s the issue?”

Heistine asked calmly till the end.

“Ah, really!”

Selena calmed down Aiden who was about to go wild.

“Calm down and speak. We can’t understand a word you’re saying like that.”

Hearing Selena’s words, Aiden took a deep breath and opened his mouth again.

“I heard the Grand Duchess was taken hostage.”

Finally realizing what Aiden was talking about, Selena and Heistine exchanged glances.

It was to decide who would speak to Aiden.

But their action of exchanging glances without answering made Aiden feel uneasy.

“Is it true?”

He looked at the two with an anxious face.

Heistine, who happened to make eye contact with Aiden, immediately opened his mouth.

“Yeah.”

“……!”

Aiden’s eyes widened as if shocked.

Selena shook her head.

The explanation was too lacking.

Meanwhile, Aiden’s expression turned pale.

“The… The Grand Duchess…!”

Not knowing what to do, he bit his lower lip hard after being dazed for a moment.

“Then we should hurry and save her! What are you doing?”

Tears welled up in his eyes and then he burst into tears.

“Grand Duchess!!”

Aiden sat down on the spot, sobbing and calling out for Karina.

“……?”

Selena and Heistine couldn’t understand.

If he had heard the rumor, he should have heard that the Grand Duke had rescued Karina and taken her to the Grand Duke’s residence for treatment.

Judging by Aiden’s reaction, it seemed as if Karina was still being held captive by the escaped convicts.

“Hey, kid, why are you crying?”

Heistine asked with a dumbfounded expression.

“How can you ask that! The Grand Duchess is being held hostage, isn’t she?!”

Aiden shouted angrily.

Aiden had actually only heard the part about Karina being kidnapped by the escaped convicts and was so surprised that he ran straight to the flower shop.

As a result, he hadn’t heard the latter part of the story.

Selena put her hand to her head with a troubled expression.

Her head was ringing from Aiden’s wailing and crying, his face a mess of tears and snot.

“Aiden, calm down. It’s true that the Grand Duchess was taken hostage, but fortunately, the Grand Duke rescued her.”

“……!”

Aiden’s crying stopped abruptly at Selena’s words.

“…Really?”

“Yes. I heard she’s now receiving treatment and resting at the Grand Duke’s residence.”

Having understood the situation after hearing Selena’s words, Aiden confronted Heistine.

“You should have said that from the beginning! You scared me!”

“That’s why you should have listened to the end of what people say.”

Heistine snorted.

Aiden growled as if provoked.

“This mister! You did it on purpose to tease me, didn’t you?”

“Why are you blaming me for that? And call me ‘elder brother’, not ‘mister’.”

“Where’s your conscience?”

Aiden frowned and said seriously.

“I don’t think I need to be considerate with you.”

“Looks like you really threw it away.”

“Both of you, stop it.”

Selena intervened.

“Why are you fighting with a child?”

Selena said a word to Heistine.

Heistine pretended not to hear and played dumb.

Selena thought that he and Aiden were the same.

“Aiden. As I said earlier, the Grand Duchess is safe.”

“Then, is it possible to go and see her?”

Aiden asked after hesitating a little.

“That would be difficult. We haven’t heard that she’s woken up yet.”

At those words, worry filled Aiden’s expression again.

“But they say the treatment went well, so let’s wait for the Grand Duchess to wake up.”

Selena reassured Aiden.

“Yes.”

Aiden nodded.

There was nothing else he could do but wait as she said.

“I’ll let her know that you were very worried.”

“No. It’s not that I was that worried. It’s just that my siblings were concerned.”

Aiden, seemingly forgetting that he had been wailing and crying earlier, made an awkward expression and made an excuse about his siblings.

Seeing this, Heistine snorted again as if he had found something to tease about.

“Ah, what is it now?”

The sharp-eyed Aiden grumbled, pouting his lips.

“You……”

Selena elbowed Heistine in the side as he was about to tease Aiden again.

“Ugh!”

It meant to stop because it was childish.

Heistine, who understood at once, rubbed his side with a disappointed expression.

Selena smiled at Aiden and said,

“When the Grand Duchess recovers and gets better, she’ll visit the orphanage, so it would be good to go back and wait.”

“Yes. I understand.”

Aiden answered that he would do so, with an expression of inner relief.

[This is the timeline separator]

That night.

The dim room was softly lit by the light from the fireplace.

The air, warmed generously by burning logs, filled the room.

But the room was as quiet as if no one was there.

The deep shadow cast by the fireplace remained fixed in one place as if nailed down.

The owner of the shadow carefully placed a finger under the nose of the person lying on the bed.

It was an action to check if they were breathing.

Feeling the breath of respiration, he sighed in relief and then checked Karina’s complexion and condition again.

This was an action Jeremiah had been repeating every hour.

At some point, Karina’s eyelashes fluttered.

Soon after, Karina regained consciousness and lifted her heavy eyelids.

“……”

As she opened her eyes, she saw the familiar shape of the ceiling through her blurry vision.

‘Ah, this seems to be my room…..’

Before Karina could fully come to her senses, a voice was heard.

“Karina! Are you conscious?”

“……?”

It was the voice of someone who had no reason to be heard here.

Karina thought for a moment that she had misheard.

Karina frowned.

In her somewhat recovered vision, she saw someone’s figure.

Fair skin, a straight forehead, distinct features, a sharp jawline, and red lips.

In contrast, a man with jet-black hair and eyes was looking down at her with a dark expression.

He wore an expression full of worry and concern on his face, perfect like a sculpture.

‘……Jeremiah?’

A strange expression formed involuntarily, as if she couldn’t believe it.

She wondered if this was also a dream.

If it was a dream of the unhappy past, she had already seen enough and didn’t want to see more, but it seemed the dream hadn’t ended yet.

‘What is it this time.’

She felt tired and disgusted.

But soon she had a question.

The dreams she had were of things that had actually happened in the past.

Jeremiah being next to her as she lay down was something that had never happened in Karina’s memory.

“Karina.”

Karina’s thoughts were interrupted by the voice heard again.

‘Did he just call me Karina?’

Strength entered Karina’s eyes.

The memory she had seen in her dream came back to her.

The image of him saying that he had never given permission to call him by his name overlapped with his image in front of her.

Karina wanted to return those words to him.

She wanted to speak, but her throat was choked up, and although her mouth moved, no voice came out.

As if knowing that Karina had tried to speak, Jeremiah opened his mouth.

“Don’t strain yourself too much.”

Karina just turned her eyes to look at where the water bottle was.

Her throat was too dry.

Strangely, Jeremiah seemed to understand what she wanted perfectly and poured water into a cup.

As Karina tried to raise her body to receive the cup, Jeremiah shook his head.

“You shouldn’t move freely yet. The wound on your neck hasn’t fully healed.”

After saying that, Jeremiah brought a teaspoon from the table.

Then he scooped up a little water with the teaspoon and poured it into Karina’s mouth.

“The doctor said you would look for water when you regained consciousness. He said to give it to you little by little with a teaspoon, as drinking water incorrectly could cause indigestion.”

“……”

The reason for doing this made sense.

But Jeremiah doing this directly was incomprehensible.

However, it was too thirsty to refuse.

‘I don’t like it, but I need to drink water for now.’

Karina eagerly received the water Jeremiah was giving her.

The feeling of water going down her throat was vivid.

After drinking some water, she finally felt like she could live.

Her throat, which had been hoarse and dry, felt like it was loosening.

‘It doesn’t seem to be a dream after all.’

Karina, having moistened her throat and come to her senses, asked what she was curious about.

“You. Why are you here?”

“……”

Even when she asked, Jeremiah didn’t easily open his mouth.

‘What’s this, he was talking just fine earlier.’

Karina thought irritably to herself.

“Why did you do that?”

“……?”

She couldn’t understand what he meant by this sudden question.

Seeing Karina’s confusion, Jeremiah asked again.

“I’m asking what you were thinking when you did such a dangerous thing.”

“……”

“Did you really intend to die?”

Hearing those words, memories of what happened before she lost consciousness and collapsed started coming back one by one.

‘I was certainly caught by the escaped convicts and tried to escape…..’

The memories became clearer and clearer.

And she realized why Jeremiah had asked such a question.

It was because of her reckless behavior when she was held captive by the escaped convicts, demanding that the hostages be released.

Karina put her hand to her neck where she had stabbed herself.

The wound area was tightly wrapped with something like a bandage.

“Is your life that light to you?”

Jeremiah’s voice asking this sounded as if he was deliberately angry.

‘Why is he asking such a thing.’

Karina felt displeased.

But seeing his dark expression, a sudden, absurd thought occurred to her.

‘Could it be that he was worried about me?’

But she soon shook off that thought.

‘That can’t be. He wouldn’t care whether I live or die.’

In the past, Jeremiah had already abandoned Karina.

Rather, he had personally stepped forward to bring her to a noble trial and said he would pass a death sentence.

‘He said he had never liked me for even a moment.’

Karina recalled the last words she had heard from him.

Those words were deeply embedded in Karina’s heart like a thorn that wouldn’t come out.

A corner of her heart ached as if the misery and devastation she had felt then had been learned.

It was because of seeing the memories of the past in her dream.

Karina apathetically let that moment pass.

Shaking off her distracting thoughts, she answered.

“It’s not that I took my life lightly.”

“Then?”

“If I didn’t do that, it seemed like everyone there would die.”

More accurately, it would be more correct to say ‘If I didn’t do at least that, I, the Grand Duchess who doesn’t receive protection from the Grand Duke’s family, would surely die’.

It was something she did because she wanted to live.

‘That’s right. Come to think of it, Mikhail came and saved me.’

Mikhail had appeared and saved her whenever she was in danger.

She felt so grateful to him.

“Where is Mikhail?”

“……!”

At Karina’s question, Jeremiah’s expression hardened.